Virtual Jou
by Usearki
Summary: Whilst Kaiba is in the midst of testing a brand new virtual world, one of his staff decides to kidnap Jonouchi and put him in a VR pod to use him as an experiment. Will he be found in time?


****Disclaimer:** **I do not own YuGiOh!. That pleasure belongs to Kazuki Takahashi. This is solely written for fun and not for profit.

**A/N** - This is a story that has been sitting on my hard drive for the best part of a year waiting for me to get to it. I tend to do that - write things and then leave them to sit around for months before posting.

I know it has been a few months since I posted anything, but RL got in the way and I fell down a massive lack of confidence hole. Hopefully I can get over that now and get back into posting again. :)

(**ETA 24-03-2012**: I have made some minor edits as I noticed a few typos and a couple of missing words. I bet I still haven't caught them all.)

xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

Seto Kaiba sighed as he picked up the next report out of the massive pile that was currently sat on his desk. It was the time of year when he looked through the requests for funding of projects within Kaiba Corporation, something he didn't really look forward to, but that he had to do to keep his top technicians happy and in his employ. There was always someone looking for a chance to run their pet project, hence the large pile, but on this occasion he hadn't come cross anything worthy of either Kaiba Corporation's or his personal consideration yet. Not that he expected too much from this exercise, but there were usually one or two interesting proposals in the pile.

Sighing again, he opened up the next proposal and let his eyes roam over the page. Then he stopped as he registered what he was actually seeing and went back to the top, carefully reading through the request once again. He paid a lot more attention this time as this was definitely a proposal of note, but for all the wrong reasons!

One Iwao Kiyotaka had submitted a research request to do with the new virtual world that was currently in development and testing, but to Kaiba's consternation he wanted to research what would happen were someone's body to die whilst their mind was resident within the virtual world. The proposal was well presented and was, on the face of it, a reasonable idea as it was always good to cover all eventualities. But on the flip side, even if they were to only use carefully vetted volunteers and those that were terminally ill, the probabilities covering the lawsuits that Kaiba Corporation could possibly face, no matter what kind of contracts were drawn up and no matter what kind of safeguards were put in place, had been completely ignored. As had any assessment of the potential effect on Kaiba Corporation's reputation. Exploitation of the vulnerable in society was only the least of the accusations that Kaiba Corporation could face and the media would ensure that every grubby angle would be covered which would inevitably drag Kaiba Corporation's carefully cultured reputation through the mud. After everything Kaiba had done to build Kaiba Corporation into what it was, he couldn't consider taking that kind of risk.

But apart from all of that, not that any of the previous _wasn't_ important, after the altercation that he'd had with his adoptive brother, Noa, in the virtual word, anything dealing with this kind of situation gave him the chills.

He stamped the request with *REJECTED* and put it in the outgoing pile and let it slip from his mind as he moved on to the next proposal.

This was a mistake that he would later regret.

xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

A few hours later, a folder was placed on a desk in the research department on floor seven. Iwao Kiyotaka looked at the simple red *REJECTED* stamped across the face of his proposal and scowled. He'd have thought that such a project would be right up Kaiba's alley and he was surprised to be rejected out of hand like that. But it was of no matter. Yes, It would have been nice to have corporate backing, but if he couldn't do it with Kaiba's blessing then he would just have to fall back onto plan B.

He turned to his computer workstation and pressed a few keys, putting the foundations of his plan into motion. He had already obtained a VR pod - an older model rescued from the bowels of Kaiba Corporation in the dead of night before it could be scrapped - that he had personally upgraded to allow integration with the current version of the software. Now he just needed to obtain a test subject and he would be all set.

And he thought that he had the ideal candidate. One Katsuya Jonouchi, specifically chosen because Kaiba couldn't stand him and in the event that Kaiba found out what he was doing, that would surely count in his favour.

He wasn't to know how wrong he was.

xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

A scant few days later, Katsuya Jonouchi was walking across town towards the game shop where his best friend, Yugi Mutou, lived. He was wandering along, listening to his MP3 player and off in his own little world when he stopped as someone stepped directly in front of him. He raised his gaze and looked into the cold blue eyes of his nemesis and secret crush, Seto Kaiba.

"What the hell, Kaiba?" Jou exclaimed as he pulled the buds out of his ears.

"Hmm... seems like the mutt has finally learned to pay attention to his surroundings somewhat," Kaiba said, smirking down at Jonouchi. "Maybe you're not a completely lost cause after all."

"Fuck you, Kaiba!" Jou spat as he made to push past the smirking CEO and be on his way, only for Kaiba to grab his arm and glare intensely down at him.

"In your dreams, mutt," Kaiba said in a low voice before he released Jonouchi with a shove and stalked away.

Jou rubbed at his arm as he watched Kaiba leave, face scarlet. That had been a touch closer to the truth than he had expected and he could have sworn that he'd seen the hint of a blush on Kaiba's own cheeks. And why had he suddenly walked off like that? Usually he'd stay and fight some more.

Jou mentally shrugged as he didn't have an answer for that, forcefully putting it to one side as he turned to walk on to the Game Shop. He made to press the buds back into his ears so as to continue to listen to his music, however, he didn't get very far before he was grabbed from behind and dragged into an alley. He put up a struggle but a strange smelling cloth was held over his mouth and nose and he was almost instantly knocked out, his MP3 player falling from his suddenly lifeless grasp and bouncing under a large refuse container.

xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

Several days later, Seto had an unexpected visitor at the Kaiba mansion.

"Mr Kaiba, Yugi Mutou is here to see you," Isono intoned seriously from the doorway to Seto's office.

"Well send him away," Kaiba snapped, "I don't want to see him."

"Very good, sir," Isono said, then he left the room. However a couple of moments later, Seto could hear a disturbance outside of his study door.

"Mr Mutou, sir, you cannot go in there," Isono was heard to shout, but the door flew open and a panting Yugi dashed in, followed by a red faced Isono.

"Kaiba, I need your help," Yugi said.

"I'm very sorry sir," Isono said contritely. "I'll escort him out now."

"No," Kaiba said in a long suffering voice, waving his hand. "If he's so desperate to see me that he feels that he has to barge in, I suppose I can hear him out." Kaiba was sure that Yugi would not force his way in without good reason so he was slightly worried over what Yugi felt was so important and how it would affect him.

"Very good sir," Isono said as he bowed, then he left, closing the door behind him.

"Thank you for seeing me, Kaiba," Yugi said gratefully.

"Not like I had much of a choice," Kaiba muttered. "What is it that you want?" he asked out loud.

"I need your help," Yugi began, only for Kaiba to cut him off.

"Well, you've done a stellar job of convincing me to help you so far, what with you barging into my office and all..."

"Kaiba, I'm sorry, " Yugi interrupted as he turned watery eyes onto the CEO, "but you're my last hope!"

Kaiba looked at Yugi and sighed. "Fine. How do you think I can help you?"

"I..." Yugi paused, suddenly uncertain as he knew that Kaiba might react unfavourably, but then ploughed on regardless. "I need you to help me find Jonouchi."

"So you want me to help you because you couldn't keep your mutt on a leash?" Kaiba said disparagingly. He waved his hand dismissively, "Rattle his food bowl and he'll be sure to come running." Kaiba may have been off hand about it, but internally he was worried. It must be bad if Yugi felt that he'd had to ask him for help, but there was no way that he would ever betray his concern.

"He's been missing for several days now," Yugi said. "He was supposed to come to the Game Shop for the afternoon on Sunday, but he never showed up and no one knows where he is." He shook his head. "He even missed going to work and is in danger of losing his job! We've reported him missing, but there are no leads and the police don't seem to care."

"Hmm, I suppose that they wouldn't care too much about a thug going missing," Kaiba mused, "but you still haven't explained to me why _I_ should care about this?"

Yugi gave Kaiba a brief yet knowing look, but then sighed and turned his back. "I suppose that I should have known that you wouldn't help me, especially when it comes to Jonouchi," Yugi said, his voice full of hopelessness. "I'm sorry for wasting your time." Kaiba didn't respond to that so Yugi left the room, the very image of a man defeated.

However, once the door had closed behind him, Yugi perked up as he walked down the hallway to where both Mokuba and Isono were waiting for him.

"Did he go for it?" Mokuba asked.

"I think so," Yugi said with a troubled look. "At least, I hope so."

"You have done your part, Mr. Mutou," Isono said, "and quite well from what I could hear of it."

"Thank you, Isono," Yugi replied. "I just wish that we didn't have to be quite so... underhanded."

"I know," Mokuba sighed, "but I'm sure that Seto doesn't hate Jou as much as he tries to make out he does so this is the only way that's likely to get him to help, even if he won't let us know it."

"Well, I suppose that we've done our bit," Yugi sighed as he looked back down the hall towards Kaiba's study, wondering at just how difficult the CEO could be to deal with, "now we just have to wait and see if Kaiba does his."

xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

Kaiba watched Yugi leave, a neutral expression upon his face. He would never show it, but he was actually quite alarmed by news of Jonouchi's disappearance. It definitely had to be serious if Yugi felt that he'd had to come to confront him and demand his help - and he realised from the timing that he was likely to have been the last person to see Jonouchi before he went missing, something else he would not admit lest people get the wrong idea. It was on public record that he could not stand Jonouchi, after all.

He opened a drawer and pulled out a small photograph album, flicking it open at a surreptitiously taken photograph of the currently missing Jonouchi, who was grinning like a loon as he horsed around at one break time during their time at school together. It was the only thing he had allowed himself to keep of the other, but if anyone had ever caught him with it he would say that he kept it to remind himself of how much the loser had annoyed him. In reality nothing could be further from the truth. Sometimes he felt that it was a shame that he could never act on these... inconvenient feelings, but he knew that it would have been totally inappropriate to do so, at least at that time. Now, however... Could things be different?

After a moment more of introspection, he abruptly slammed the album back into the drawer and turned to his computer.

He might not want to let anyone know what he was up to, but if anyone could find out what had happened to Jonouchi, he could.

Then maybe he could explore those other possibilities.

xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

Jonouchi suddenly awoke and immediately sat up in his bed, looking around in confusion. What the hell was going on? The last thing he remembered was walking towards Yugi's place whilst listening to his MP3 player. Then he'd had that mini altercation with Kaiba, gone to walk on and then... nothing. That had been too real to be a dream... hadn't it?

But he was obviously at home and in bed right now so he came to the inevitable conclusion that it _must_ have been a dream. He got out of bed, humming happily to himself as he showered and dressed, trying to put the feeling that something was very wrong out of his mind. Still, he couldn't help but be happy that his drunkard of a father wasn't at home to spoil his morning and he was going to visit Yugi in a while. That always made him happy.

Once he was done with his shower and dressed in clean clothes, he grabbed his bag and looked for his MP3 player, but strangely it was nowhere to be found. He scratched his head in confusion, sure that it should have been in there somewhere.

He then picked up the phone and called his place of work to see if he'd inadvertently left it there the night before, but there was no answer. Once again, that was odd as there should have been _someone_ there, but he rationalised that they could have been too busy to answer the phone at that moment so he decided to call in on his way to Yugi's. It wasn't that far out of his way.

He grabbed his bag and walked towards the front door of his apartment, intent on heading over to the Game Shop. Something still felt kind of wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on what on earth it could be. Then he opened the front door and stopped dead, shock and fear shooting through him as he realised that he could not hear anything. The world outside was completely silent.

"What the hell?" he exclaimed out loud. As his voice echoed through the silence, he blanched at the sound and quickly stepped back inside, jumping as the slam of the door seemed even louder now that he had figured out what was wrong.

He panted heavily for a few moments, the sound of his breath harsh in the eerie quiet, then he carefully opened the door once again, this time more hesitantly poking his head outside. It really was silent out there and from what he could hear - or rather from what he _couldn't_ hear - there wasn't even the sound of birds or wind, let alone the normal rumble that should be present as part of the audio landscape of a bustling city. He paused, trembling as he considered what he should do, then decided that there was no point in stopping where he was and cowering in his own home. Although he found it extremely hard as he was freaked out to the extreme, he took a deep breath and stepped outside the door, determined to find out if there were anyone else here, hoping against hope that he wasn't all alone.

A few minutes later found a pale and shaking Jonouchi arriving at the Kame Game Shop. He had not seen another living being, human or otherwise, on the entire journey and he was badly spooked. One of his greatest fears was to be entirely alone and so far this was an utter nightmare! He opened the door to the game shop only to find more of the same and that the place was totally deserted. Jou whimpered then bolted in panic, first to Honda's place, then Otogi's shop, then Anzu's home. No matter where he went, everywhere was the same - deserted.

Now Jou became even more panicked despite his attempts to stay calm and he began to run. He had no idea where he was going, but he felt that he just had to try and get away. He ran for miles and miles but he did not become out of breath, something that he was too distressed to notice at that moment. After running for what felt like hours, he eventually found himself at Domino's city limits. But he didn't stop, he just kept on going and then... everything stopped.

Jou sat up in bed, gasping for breath. That had been one hell of a nightmare, the worst he'd had in a while. He was about to get up, but he suddenly stopped, listening intently. Hearing nothing but the rasping of his own increasingly panicky breaths, he flung himself from the bed and to the window, once again finding that he was looking out onto the utterly deserted city. He flew back across the room and flung himself back to the perceived safety of his bed, pulling the covers up over his head as he shook. What the hell was happening? Was this really some kind of weird nightmare that he was stuck in, or was it something else?

But more importantly, how on earth was he going to get out of this one?

xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

Seto Kaiba sat in front of his computer, almost ready to tear his hair out in frustration as it would appear that Jonouchi had simply disappeared into thin air. He'd spent what spare time he'd had over the last week pouring over CCTV footage, none of which covered anywhere near where he'd run into Jou on that fateful Sunday. That was quite suspicious in and of itself as he knew that there were cameras in the area, but he could only surmise that they had either been turned off during the critical time or their records had been wiped to the point where even a genius such as himself had no hope of recovering them.

Once Seto had realised that he wasn't going to get anywhere with the electronic records, he had ordered one of his most trusted security men to go and discreetly look around the area where it was thought that Jonouchi had disappeared as it would have attracted too much unwanted attention if he had gone to examine the location for himself. It hadn't taken long before the man had come back with what was clearly Jonouchi's MP3 player, although, oddly, the ear buds had been nowhere to be found. As much as Kaiba had as little as possible to do with Jonouchi for fear of giving away something he wasn't ready to, he knew that the MP3 player was one of Jou's most prized possessions and that he would not have let it go without a struggle. So he came to the conclusion that Jou had most likely been knocked out when he was taken. Kaiba had very little doubt that Jou had been taken, but he had no idea as to why. Just who would want to take someone like Jonouchi?

"Mr. Kaiba," the voice of his secretary came though the intercom, "the testers are assembled and waiting for you in the VR lab."

"Thank you," Kaiba replied shortly. "Let them know that I will be there momentarily."

"Very good, Mr. Kaiba," the voice returned then the intercom switched off.

Kaiba placed the MP3 player back into his desk drawer and shut down his computer. He would work on the problem of Jonouchi's disappearance some more later on, but right now he had to deal with the pushy lot that were his VR technicians. There were times that he wished that he could sack the lot of them, but no matter how much he would like to, there was no way that he could do the job of setting up and testing the new virtual world all by himself, at least, not if he were to have any hope of having it ready by the deadline.

He stood and left the room. The sooner he got down to the VR lab, the sooner he could get back to trying to find Jonouchi.

xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

Several very trying hours later, Kaiba was sat back in his office looking over the day's results and the logs of VR pod activity. He was slightly concerned that there was some odd activity in the VR program, although as of yet he had been unable to pinpoint the origin. Whoever was accessing the program illegally – if someone even was and it wasn't just some random glitch – was adept at covering their tracks, but that didn't stop him from trying to locate the problem and he was currently following a tenuous trace through the program. He was almost there... Just a little more...

"Seto!" Mokuba burst into the office, causing his brother to look up momentarily, distracting him from the chase.

"Damn it!" Kaiba exclaimed as he looked back and the trace he had so carefully followed vanished from the screen. "What do you want?" he snapped, standing in frustration and irritation. Then he stopped instantly as he realised just who it was that he was yelling at. "I'm sorry Mokie..." he started, only to be cut off.

"You should be," Mokuba growled, an uncharacteristic noise coming from the younger Kaiba. He brandished a familiar looking MP3 player. "Why do you have this?" he demanded.

"Where did you get that from?" Seto asked coolly, unwilling to give any ground, even to his own brother.

"Don't answer my question with another question," Mokuba snapped, giving his brother a glare, letting him know that he would not be diverted. "You should know exactly where I got it from."

"You are right, I do know," Seto answered coolly as he crossed his arms imperiously. "So why were you in my desk drawer? You know how I feel about that." Inside Seto was cursing himself for forgetting to lock it as he would normally have done.

"I was looking for a stapler," Mokuba sneered, a look that was out of place on his young face. "But that doesn't change the fact that you have Jonouchi's MP3 player."

"What makes you think that it belongs to the mutt?" Seto asked as he sat back down, then he leaned forwards and placed his elbows on the desk, regarding Mokuba carefully. "For all you know, it could belong to me."

"Oh puh-leese," the derision in Mokuba's tone was clear, "give me SOME credit. First of all, there is no way you would own something like this and secondly," Mokuba removed the battery compartment and the battery within, showing the interior to Seto, "he wrote his name on the inside!" He quickly reassembled the device, then once again brandished it as his brother. "So, explain THAT."

"Humph, typical of the mutt to mark his property in such a childish way," he said as he leaned back and crossed his arms again, clearly disconcerted at having been caught out.

"So _why_ do you have it?" Mokuba demanded again. "I hope that you're not behind his disappearance," he wondered aloud, then he turned horrified eyes onto his brother. For all that Mokuba insisted that Seto did not hate Jonouchi, there was always the niggling doubt and worry that he could be mistaken.

Seto sighed, "No Mokuba, I'm not," he said, "and I'm disappointed that you could think such a thing of me."

"I'm sorry Seto," Mokuba said contritely, "but everyone knows how much you insist you hate him. If someone other than me were to find out that you have his MP3 player..."

"I do understand," Seto replied, "and I can see how it could look bad, but I promise that I'm not behind Jonouchi's disappearance."

"So how come you have it then?" Mokuba asked, evidently confused.

"Yugi came to see me several days ago..." Seto began.

"I know that," Mokuba cut him off, "I also know that you pretty much ignored what he had to say."

Seto knew that he had to come clean, at least to his brother. "Contrary to popular belief, I do not hate the mutt," he said. "After Yugi had been to see me I began an investigation of my own and the man I sent out came back with that player." He was tempted to leave it there, but seeing Mokuba's expectant face, he felt that he had to continue. "I went back to the last time I saw him, which as it happens was also likely to be the last time that he was seen. I checked the CCTV around the area but there appears to have been a convenient black out in just that little area around the time that Jonouchi was likely to have been taken. I sent a man of my own to go and investigate the scene and he came back with that. Apparently he found it under a dumpster. I haven't got any further with this and that's not for want of trying." He shrugged. "It's like he's disappeared into thin air."

Mokuba's face became a mask of concern. "Damn, I was hoping that you'd be able to find something..."

Seto's expression was first shocked and then annoyed as he took in Mokuba's words and things fell into place. "You played me..." he said accusingly. "You and Mutou... and even Isono!"

"EEP!" Mokuba squeaked, realising that he'd inadvertently given himself away and that his genius of an older brother had instantly put the pieces together. "I'm sorry Seto," Mokuba said, making big eyes at his brother, "It's just that we were so worried and we knew that Jou wouldn't just disappear like that without telling anyone or getting in contact and the police didn't care and..."

"Mokuba," Seto said, stopping his brother in his stride, "I'm not mad."

"You're not?" Mokuba was surprised.

"Don't get me wrong," Seto said, "I _am_ upset that you felt you had to manipulate me in that way, but..." he shook his head ruefully, "I can understand why you felt you had to go that far. It seems that I have quite an irrational blind spot when it comes to dealing with that little group."

"Or just when it comes to dealing with a certain mutt?" Mokuba asked cheekily.

"Quite," Seto said, giving Mokuba a look that clearly told him not to push it. "But the fact remains that whoever has taken Jou, and I am in no doubt that he has been taken, has covered their tracks quite thoroughly and I am completely at a loss."

"Oh," Mokuba said dejectedly.

"I'm not going to stop looking," Seto said in an attempt to reassure, but then he looked troubled, "Something is quite off about the whole situation and I don't like it."

"Can I tell Yugi what we know?" Mokuba asked. "He's beside himself with worry and although this news isn't good, the fact that you are looking for him will help, I'm sure."

Seto was about to snap something inappropriate, but stopped himself. "Do what you will," he said, "but the MP3 player stays here." He held out his hand to take the device from Mokuba.

"Thanks Seto," Mokuba said as he handed the small machine over. "I'll go and tell Yugi now." He made to leave, but Seto called him back.

"Mokuba?"

"Yes Seto?" Mokuba turned back.

"Don't try to manipulate me like that again," he said sternly. "Just ask me next time. I promise to hear you out."

"OK Seto, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. Now off you go." Seto made vague shooing motions. Mokuba grinned and scarpered, leaving Seto to his thoughts.

Just where _had_ Jonouchi disappeared to? He knew that it would bug him to no end until he found out, but the thought of Jou being in some kind of serious trouble chilled him to the core.

He turned back to his computer, rapidly pressing the keys. Maybe he had missed something before? He knew that it wasn't likely, but with the lack of anything else to go on, he felt that he had to try.

It wasn't in his nature to give up.

xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

Jou cautiously looked around as he dashed from the cover of one building to another. He had no idea how long he had been here – wherever here actually was – but he had very quickly come to the conclusion, once he had got over his initial panic anyway, that this wasn't the real Domino.

Once he'd finished cowering in his bed, he'd begun to do some tentative exploring and he'd soon found that there were many places that he could not go. Most of the structures in this fake Domino were just like 'placeholder' buildings or decorations that he could not gain access to, but there were a few that when he tried to enter them, the world would shut down and 'reset' then he would find himself back in his bed, everything just as it was when he had first woken up here.

He had also found that he wasn't allowed to leave the confines of this fake Domino and he wasn't allowed to enter either the Kaiba Corporation building or the Kaiba Manor. In fact everything seemed to point towards this being one of Kaiba's virtual worlds, although he couldn't figure out for the life of him why Kaiba would do such a thing to him. Yes, he knew that Kaiba didn't like him much - or he'd thought Kaiba had at least _claimed_ that he didn't like him - but he hadn't realised that Kaiba hated him so much that he would do something like this.

Although he'd found that there seemed to be food available in this virtual world, he didn't feel hungry in the slightest. Not that he would have trusted that any of it was actually fit to consume or that it wouldn't do some horrible thing to him.

He'd also found that he could run and run and never get tired. He was glad of that as he'd felt that taking transport, be it a car or a motorcycle, would draw too much attention to himself, something he wanted to avoid. It was also just as well that he didn't need to sleep either as he was certain that he would just have terrible nightmares if he tried. It just made the time that he wasn't exploring and trying to find a way out very boring as there was nothing to do and no one to talk to.

Suddenly Jou stiffened as he felt the by now familiar crawling sensation between his shoulder blades that he was certain indicated that someone was watching him. Normally he would have instantly tried to hide away from the prying gaze, but this time he decided that he'd had enough.

"Kaiba!" Jou stood and shouted towards the sky, "Kaibaaaa! Let me out of here you bastard!" He stood and panted, clenching his fists as frustration overtook him. "Damn it all, Kaiba!" he screamed impotently, "What the hell did I ever do to you?" Jou sagged and slumped down to his knees. "Why do you hate me so much?" Jou covered his face and dissolved into broken sobs, the stress and isolation taking a massive toll on his psyche.

He really couldn't take much more of this.

xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

Iwao Kiyotaka looked at the monitor, frantically taking notes as the subject had his breakdown. It would appear that the subject was suffering from the effects of isolation and it was taking a heavy toll upon him.

The scientist was surprised that the symptoms had begun to show so quickly, it not really having been all that long since the subject had been placed into the simulation. He supposed that it was possible that his obvious initial fear of being alone was exacerbating this breakdown, but it was equally as possible that the trauma of having his mind separated from his body for such a long time was also having a detrimental effect. He placed his clipboard down and crossed to the pod where the subject's body was currently residing.

Kiyotaka noted that the subject's psyche may not be an issue for too much longer as his body was already beginning to fail. Despite appearing to be fit and healthy at first glance, it had soon become clear that the subject's body had been undernourished for quite some time and did not have the reserves to cope with the starvation regime that he had been placed under.

Of course, if he had withheld fluids from the subject to start with than he would already have passed, but he'd wanted to see how prolonged exposure to the virtual world would have affected the subject for a while before getting to the point of this experiment and the subject's death. But now that the subject was becoming stressed much more quickly than he had thought, there was no need to keep the experiment going and besides, he really did want to get to the main event.

As he removed the I.V. from the subject's arm, he decided that he would have to be more careful about the selection of his next subject.

xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

A couple of hours later or, as he had no reliable way of knowing, it might have been days, found Jou holed back up in his room, desperately wishing that this were a nothing but a bad dream. He was so desperate for human contact that even if Pegasus were to show up right now, he would not hesitate to hug him.

Then he sat up in bed, alert all of a sudden. There was a noise, something out of place in the eerie silence of this virtual Domino. Cautiously, he climbed out of his bed and crept over to the window, pulling the curtain slightly to one side. He peered out, then abruptly pulled away and threw his back flush against the peeling wallpaper. There was a dragon flying around out there, but it wasn't just any dragon...

He cautiously peered outside again. "Red Eyes Black Dragon," he whispered in awe and fear, voice harsh in the silent room. "Have I been alone in here for so long that I've started hallucinating?"

He pulled back from the window once again, carefully considering what he should do regarding this latest development. Could the dragon have been inserted as a means to tempt him out of his room? He had been holed up here ever since he'd screamed at Kaiba after all and it must be mighty boring to watch him just lying in his bed all the time. He really didn't want to do anything that Kaiba might want him to do, but... at this point even a hallucination would be _something_ to keep him company.

He sighed as he realised that he'd made his decision as soon as he'd laid eyes on the dragon flying around outside. For better or for worse he was going to go out there and call the attention of the Red Eyes Black Dragon. He just hoped that he wouldn't regret it.

xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

Ten minutes later, Jou cautiously exited his apartment. He still wondering if he were doing the right thing, but he steeled his resolve; he was committed now and he wasn't about to turn back with his tail between his legs, no matter how tempting it might be to do so.

He headed towards the largest open space he could think of that was within a reasonable distance, which was the local park just across the main road from the estate where he lived. Once he was there, he looked up into the sky, half in fear and half in anticipation, only to feel crushing disappointment when the area was conspicuously empty. There was no sign of the large dragon that he was certain he had seen only a few minutes previously.

"Damn it, Red Eyes, where did you go?" Jou shouted at the sky, now wondering if he really had just hallucinated the whole thing. But then he jumped a mile as a deep rumbling voice came from behind him.

"I'm right here, Master," the Red Eyes Black Dragon said with a hint of amusement. "No need to shout."

"Don't sneak up on me like that!" Jou exclaimed as he spun around, then he stopped and looked at the dragon in shock. "You can talk?" he asked with surprise. "Either Kaiba programmed you really well or you are one hell of a hallucination."

"I am neither, Master," Red Eyes said, giving Jou a sympathetic look.

"So what are you then?" Jou wondered. "Do you expect me to believe that you are the real thing?" His eyes widened. This could be one hell of a figment of his imagination.

"Believe whatever you need to, Master," Red Eyes said in a serious tone, "but I am here to help you."

"Not that I'm not grateful that you're here," Jou began hesitantly, not wanting to offend, "but... how are you going to help me? Kaiba's got me locked up in some kind of virtual world and..."

"My master would never do such a thing!" a new and feminine voice said in an offended tone.

Jou whirled around again, eyes widening in shock as he registered the Blue Eyes White Dragon that had crept up behind him whilst he'd had his attention on the Red Eyes. He gave a shriek and instinctively threw himself back from the white dragon's angry visage and to perceived safety behind the Red Eyes Black Dragon.

"Don't be too hard on him," Red Eyes said calmly. "He has no reason to believe otherwise at this point."

"But I can't stand here and let him accuse my master of doing something so heinous," the Blue Eyes insisted.

"But we all knew that he would be feeling this way," Red Eyes said reasonably, "that is why it was agreed that I should come on my own."

"You agreed, you mean," Blue Eyes said petulantly. "I don't recall getting a say."

Jou listened to the dragons bickering with his mouth agape. "What the hell?" he exclaimed, interrupting the argument.

"What is the matter, Master?" Red Eyes asked.

"It's just that... you sound like an old married couple." Jou stiffened wondering if he was about to feel the dragon's wrath for suggesting such a ludicrous thing, but he was surprised when the Red Eyes laughed.

"That is because we are," Red Eyes rumbled as he tried to hold in his laughter. Jou was even more shocked when he noticed that the Blue Eyes was sporting a cute blush.

"OK, now I KNOW I'm hallucinating," Jou shook his head. "Given how much Kaiba hates me, I just can't see Blue Eyes giving you the time of day.

"Seto Kaiba does not hate you," Red Eyes said. "In fact..." He would have said more, but Blue Eyes interrupted him.

"That isn't important right now," she said, obviously trying to stop the Red Eyes from divulging her master's secrets. "What _is_ important..."

"Wait a minute," Jou stopped her. He looked up at the white dragon with some confusion. "Kaiba DOESN'T hate me?"

"No, he doesn't, far from it," Blue Eyes admitted with a sigh, knowing that the cat was out of the bag. She turned a scorching glare onto Jou, making him shrink back into the Black dragon's side. "So what are you going to do about it?"

Jou was shocked for a moment, then something occurred to him. "Hang on," he said, wild eyed as paranoia swept through him. "If you've been sent in by Kaiba then this has got to be a way for him to try and get me to admit something so that he can humiliate me again!" Tears were flowing down his face freely now. "No! I'm not going to admit to anything!" he cried, then he made a break for it and began to run. He only managed to get a few yards before the Red Eyes caught him up in a large black paw.

"Don't run, Master," the large dragon rumbled reassuringly. "I promise that we are only here to help you. Seto Kaiba did not make us or send us in. In fact he does not even know that you are here." He placed Jou back on the ground as he spoke, sending blue eyes a look that told her quite clearly to keep quiet. His master was very clearly spooked and anything that his mate was likely to say at this moment was only likely to make things worse.

"He... he doesn't?" Jou turned watery eyes onto the dragons. "So... if Kaiba didn't send you then who did and why didn't you come before now?"

The black dragon sighed, an explosive sound that made Jonouchi flinch. "We came on our own, helped by the Dark Magician and his apprentice. It was not an easy undertaking and they only agreed to help when it became clear that your life was in danger and no-one was going to find you in time. Their master would also be distressed if you were gone, after all."

"So you _are_ the real Red Eyes Black Dragon?" Jou was shocked. "How..?"

"We are only real here in the same sense that you are real here," the Blue Eyed dragon said. "Our 'physical' bodies are being guarded by the other Blue Eyes White Dragons and the two magicians."

"As for how," Red Eyes broke in before Blue Eyes could get into a long winded explanation that Jou would fail to understand, "it is not important. What is important is that your life is in danger. Your body is beginning to fail and your kidnapper has removed your hydration. Unless we can get Kaiba's attention and he can find you, I don't think you will last longer than another day or so. Maybe less."

"Shit," Jou said as he began to pace. "You mean that Kaiba really doesn't know?" He quailed as the Blue Eyes gave him a burning glare. "OK, OK, I get it, it's not his style, but... how are we going to contact him?"

"We are going to take you from this fake Domino," the Red Eyes explained. "Kaiba has recently been testing part of the virtual world just over those hills you can see in the distance." The dragon indicated a direction where Jou dutifully looked. "You will be able to confront him directly when he next comes in."

"When will that be?" Jou asked. "Will I last that long?"

"Master has a testing session due shortly," Blue Eyes said. "We shall take you to him then."

"Not to put a dampener on things," Jou said, "But I can't leave the city limits. On the occasions I've tried, everything resets and I find myself in bed at home."

"We already know of this," Red Eyes said. "We can take you through the barrier without it detecting you."

"You knew? How did you know?" Jou asked, then he frowned as something else occurred to him. "In fact, how did you even know I was here?"

"I have been watching you though the scrying pool in the back of our cave," Red Eyes admitted with a flush.

"You've been watching me?" Jou gasped. "Even outside of this... world?"

"I'm sorry," Red Eyes said, "but all of us monsters watch our masters from time to time. As long as there is a reasonably sized pool of water and they can do the required magic, that is."

Jou flushed as he thought about all the things that Red Eyes might have seen. He jumped when the Red Eyes nuzzled up to him.

"I'm sorry if it makes you uncomfortable, Master," the dragon said in a tiny voice. "I won't watch you any more if you do not wish me to."

Jou opened his mouth, then closed it again before he could say something he would regret. It struck him that once he'd discovered that the duel spirits actually did exist, he'd often longed to see his signature monster, so wouldn't it naturally follow that the monsters would also wish to see their masters and if they had the means to do it, then why wouldn't they take advantage of it?

"No, it's fine," Jou conceded as he held the dragon's large head, clinging on for dear life. "You can watch me whenever you like and..." Jou took a deep breath, "if I don't get out of this then I'm glad that I got to meet you. And you too, Blue Eyes."

"Oh Master," Red Eyes nuzzled further into the blond duelist, letting him know without words that he was proud to have him as his master.

"Try not to worry too much, Jonouchi," Blue Eyes said with the gentlest tone that Jou had heard from her so far. "Master will be within the Virtual World soon and once we bring the problem to his attention..."

"Thanks Blue Eyes," Jou said, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. "So... do you know how badly off I am? How long have I been in here? It's kind of hard to tell."

"You have been in here for just over two weeks of your world's time," Red Eyes grumbled. "You have not had any food in all of that time and your body is now failing. Normally you would have several more days before..." the dragon coughed, "but your captor has removed the tube that was keeping you hydrated so that time has now been cut short." The dragon cast a sympathetic look upon his master. "I'm afraid to say that even if, no, _when_ you get out of here, it is going to take you quite some time to recover."

"I'm not surprised," Jou sighed. "It always seems that..." Jou stopped as the Blue Eyes White Dragon sprang to attention. "What is it?" he asked, feeling apprehension flood through his system.

"Master has just arrived in the Virtual World," the large white dragon said. She cast an intense look onto Jou. "It is time to go."

xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

Seto Kaiba scowled as he chivvied his technicians to get on with the testing and refining of this part of his new virtual world. If he didn't know better he would swear that the testing team were deliberately engineering minor faults to keep the world in the testing phase and themselves in a job. Actually he didn't know better, but to put together a new team at this point would cost more in time and money than just carrying on with this team – although as time went on simply sacking most of them was becoming a more and more attractive prospect.

His expression narrowed as he took in the lanky form of Iwao Kiyotaka. He had felt quite a sense of unease when he was around the man which had only increased when he recalled the macabre request that he had submitted several weeks previously.

He shook his head and tried to put it out of his mind for the moment. It was probably just the idle curiosity of the highly intelligent academic that had caused him to put that particular request in and if it hadn't been for his previous experience with Noa and the potential repercussions on Kaiba Corporation's reputation, then he may have even considered funding such an endeavour.

But he had also other things to worry about at the moment. First of all, he still hadn't found the source of the illegal intrusions into his virtual world or, if they weren't actual intrusions, the glitches causing the false alarms. Every time he thought he was getting close to the source there was another crisis to deal with and the trail would go cold. He resolved that after this testing session he would lock himself in his office, turn off communications altogether and work at it until he actually managed to track down whatever the problem was.

Then there was the fact that Jonouchi was still missing with absolutely no indication as to where he could have gone. He'd got in touch with the police and had even arranged a press conference for Jou's sister and friends to plead for his safe return, but to no avail. The police didn't seem to care even though Kaiba himself was involved and Seto got the distinct impression that they saw it as good riddance to bad rubbish. None of the private detectives that he had hired had managed to come up with anything either. It was quite a perplexing and worrying conundrum.

His attention was caught by a shout from one of the technicians in the group and he steeled himself for the next perceived issue with the virtual world which would inevitably delay things even further. However, he was to be shocked as he looked in the direction that the workers were gesticulating and shouting towards to see dragons. Two of them. And not just any dragons, but a Blue Eyes White Dragon and a Red Eyes Black Dragon. But what the hell were they doing here? They were a long way from adding monsters to the world. Something here wasn't right.

"Everyone out," he barked. "Check the parameters and find out why this is happening. When I find out who has been messing with my code..." He tailed off threateningly and the technicians paled, even as they began to wink out.

"But... what about you, sir?" the youngest and probably hardest working of the bunch asked.

"I'm going to stay here to observe for the moment. Now go!"

In a moment all the technicians were gone, leaving Kaiba alone to face the two large dragons. He wasn't scared in the slightest as he only had to press a button and he would be gone.

Let whoever was behind this do their worst!

xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

Jonouchi gasped as the Red Eyes Black Dragon took off with him astride the large, black neck. He'd never thought that he would ever get to ride a dragon and even though it wasn't the most comfortable experience he'd ever had and despite the less than ideal circumstances, he was determined to enjoy the experience as best he could. After all, it was likely that he would never get the chance to do such a thing again whether he made it out of his plight or not.

It didn't take long for them to reach the city limits and Jou steeled himself to wake up in bed once again. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut as he expected to find himself flat on his back momentarily, but when that didn't occur he opened his eyes in surprise and looked back to see the virtual Domino City receding behind him.

"Oh hey!" Jou exclaimed. "I'm still here!" He felt a bit better about this now, but the apprehension he had been feeling still did not leave him.

"Did you doubt me, Master?" Red Eyes grumbled in good humour.

"Sorry, Red Eyes," Jou said contritely.

"Don't take it to heart," Red eyes said, recognising that his master was feeling quite fragile at the moment. "Now watch, we shall soon be there."

Just as Red Eyes had said, they flew over the hills outside Domino and spotted the group of Technicians along with Kaiba off in the distance. "Hey, there they are!" Jou shouted, then everyone except for Kaiba disappeared.

Jou gasped as the uneasy feeling that he'd put down to apprehension over facing Kaiba lifted without warning. He thought about why that might be for a moment, then shouted out loud as he realised that it was the very same uneasy feeling he'd had on and off whilst being trapped in the virtual Domino. If that feeling really had indicated that someone had been watching him, then it was likely that his kidnapper was amongst Kaiba's employees!

"Red Eyes!" Jou yelled, "get down there as quickly as you can. I'm pretty damned sure that whoever took me just left the virtual world and Kaiba might be in danger!"

Red Eyes nodded. "Hold on tight," he rumbled back, then folded his wings and dived, Blue Eyes following closely behind.

No sooner had Red Eyes put his feet on the ground then Jou vaulted from the dragon's back and began running towards Kaiba. He had to get the CEO to leave the virtual world – now!

xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

Seto Kaiba watched warily as the Red Eyes Black Dragon suddenly dived, the Blue Eyes White Dragon following a moment later. As the black dragon approached he could see that there was someone perched upon its back, but there shouldn't be anyone in here apart from himself right now. He checked the panel on his arm to confirm that he was correct - all of his technicians had logged out.

He braced himself as the dragon landed with a thump and a flaring of wings. Kaiba stood his ground, determined to let whoever had dared to hack into his world come to him, but his eyes widened as he abruptly recognised the person running towards him.

"Kaiba!" Jou yelled as he ran towards the stunned CEO.

"What the hell are you doing in here, Mutt?" Kaiba spat, heart aching with betrayal. Although he'd never made any effort to get along with Jonouchi, he'd thought he could actually trust him. To find out otherwise was not a nice feeling.

Normally Jou would have got upset at Kaiba calling him that particular name, but there were more pressing concerns at the moment. "You have to get out of here, Kaiba," Jou said intently, "before you end up like me!"

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Kaiba growled, casting a wary eye over Jou and the dragons that flanked him.

"There's no time," Jou insisted, "Please, GET OUT!"

"I don't..." Kaiba made to protest again, but he was to be abruptly interrupted from an unexpected source.

"GO!" The Blue Eyes White Dragon roared as it charged an attack. Kaiba blanched then pressed the button that would dismiss him from this world, disappearing in small motes of light.

Jou sighed then slumped down as the dragons gave him what comfort they could. Kaiba's attention had been well and truly got. Now all they had to do was wait and hope for the best.

xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

Kaiba blinked as he came to in the pod that enabled him to enter the virtual world, starting in surprise as he saw one of his technicians – namely Iwao Kiyotaka – hovering over the controls. He quickly disconnected himself from the machine and opened the lid before the man could press any buttons.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" Kaiba demanded, noting that the man was alone in the room, all the other technicians having gone to do as he had instructed.

"I... I was just checking to see that your vital signs were within limits," Kiyotaka stammered, not sounding very convincing at all.

Kaiba gave him a speculative look. "Whilst your concern is... appreciated, it is not necessary."

"Very good sir," Kiyotaka said, breaking out in a sweat. He gave a quick, jerky bow and left the lab in a hurry.

Kaiba watched him go then quickly extricated himself from the pod and followed him to the door. He quietly stepped outside the lab where the ever present Isono was standing, then giving an inflection of his head in the direction of Kiyotaka's retreating back, he silently instructed that the bodyguard was to follow him. Isono nodded and left, then Kaiba stepped back into the lab, shutting and securing the door. He crossed to the banks of monitors and computer equipment situated on the far wall, ready to observe what was happening.

He watched Isono's progress via the CCTV system for a moment before bringing up another monitor to view Jonouchi who was exactly where he had been left in the virtual world, together with the two dragons that should not have been available within the program yet.

He opened an audio channel to the virtual world, determined to find out *why* Jonouchi was there and why he had insisted so forcefully that Kaiba should leave.

"Mutt," He said, causing Jonouchi to stand up and look around him frantically.

"Kaiba? Where are you?" Jou asked as he could not locate the CEO.

Kaiba sighed. "I'm in the lab, talking to you via microphone, idiot," he spat.

"Oh, you did get out then," Jou said, looking visibly relieved. "That's good."

"Cut the crap," Kaiba said. "Why are you in my virtual world, Mutt?"

"I... don't really know," Jou said with a touch of uncertainty, Kaiba's accusatory tone clearly unsettling him.

"Come on, Mutt. You can do better than that," Kaiba said with clear annoyance. "I want to know what you were hoping to achieve and I want the names of whoever helped you."

"Honestly, Kaiba," Jou said, "I have no idea why I'm here. Just after we bumped into each other outside of KC, everything went dark and I ended up stuck in a completely empty Domino City." He shuddered as he remembered waking up and finding himself totally alone.

"But that was over two weeks ago!" Kaiba exclaimed. "Are you seriously telling me that you've been in there for that long?"

"That's what I've been led to believe," Jou said warily.

"But no-one knows the effects of such a prolonged separation of mind and body..." Kaiba mused aloud.

"Well, looks like I'm yer new guinea pig," Jou groused, "and that's not even the worst of it." He slumped, "According to Red Eyes here, the bastard that took me has been starving me."

"What?" Kaiba was horrified.

"Yeah, and apparently he's had enough of using me as a subject and he's removed the drip that was keeping me hydrated." He slumped against Red Eyes who nuzzled against him with a comforting gesture. "Sounds like I don't have long left and who knows what'll happen to me then."

Kaiba gasped as things suddenly fell into place. He looked up at the monitors that should have been following Isono only to come up... blank.

He pressed a button. "Isono, where are you?"

"Outside Kiyotaka's lab, sir." Isono replied.

"Are you sure?" Kaiba asked. "I can't see you."

"I am positive sir," Isono said. "The door closed just before you hailed me. Should I go in?"

"Hold on a moment," Kaiba said typing furiously on the keyboard. He brought up the camera showing the inside of Kiyotaka's lab. There was no-one there, but then the door opened, showing Kiyotaka walking in and crossing to his computer workstation.

Kaiba blinked at the image for a moment. Although there was obviously a time delay, something that was occasionally an issue within the system and wasn't really anything of note, something else seemed to be out of place. Then it hit him. Kiyotaka had been wearing a blue shirt when he had left Kaiba a few minutes ago, but on the monitor he was wearing a yellow shirt under his lab coat.

"Bastard," Kaiba hissed. "He's hacked the CCTV systems." This thought gave him pause as it occurred to him that Kaiba Corporation's CCTV system may not be the only one he had hacked...

"What's going on, Kaiba?" Jou asked from the virtual world. Kaiba had left the mic open and Jou was quite confused by what he was hearing.

"Just hold on, Jonouchi," Kaiba said as he furiously worked the keyboard. "I'll get back to you shortly." He cut the mic and audio feed, once again leaving Jou alone with the two dragons.

Jou blinked as he registered what Kaiba had said. "Did he just call me Jonouchi?" he asked in wonder.

"Yes master, he did," Red Eyes confirmed.

"I don't think he's ever called me by my name before," Jou said, "at least not without an insult attached..."

xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

Whilst Jou waited in the virtual world, Kaiba was furiously trying to over-ride whatever Kiyotaka had done to his security cameras as he exchanged information with Isono.

"Have the security teams arrived yet?" Kaiba asked via the headset that he'd put on in order to keep his hands free.

"Yes sir," Isono said. "Ready to enter on your command."

"Standby," Kaiba said, pressing the final few keys to regain access to the live feed from Kiyotaka's lab, hoping that the man had not completely disconnected the cameras from the system. Although such an action would normally set off an alarm, it wasn't inconceivable that Kiyotaka could have prevented that from happening, especially given what he had done and how he'd infiltrated the system.

He gave a small crow of triumph as he image abruptly changed to show current events, then he stopped dead at what he saw on the screen. Kiyotaka was there, wearing the blue shirt under his lab coat, working furiously at his computer and sweating profusely, but over in the corner was something that made his blood run cold, something that he had both been hoping to see yet simultaneously dreading – an occupied VR pod. It was an older model, similar to the ones that had been used when the Big Five had tried to trap him within the virtual world and as such it should have been scrapped. But although Kaiba couldn't see who was inside the pod he would bet the entirety of Kaiba Corporation that it was Jonouchi.

Kaiba turned back to the computer, checking the system to make sure that the door to the lab was unlocked and free to open. "Go in and secure Kiyotaka," Kaiba instructed over the com-link. "Make sure that no-one touches anything else. I will be there to oversee things shortly."

"Yes sir," Isono said.

Kaiba turned his attention away, making another call. "Send an emergency medical team to room 205 on floor 7 and have an ambulance on standby." Once he got confirmation that his message had been heard and understood, he didn't waste any more time, but practically ran from the room and on to Kiyotaka's laboratory.

Once he got there, it was to find a scene of barely controlled chaos. Once he managed to push his way through the gaggle of workers that had gathered to stare through the door, he found that two of his men were holding a blubbering and ranting Kiyotaka, whilst the others were occupied with making sure that no-one entered the room.

Kaiba turned to glare the curious group. "Get back to work," he spat in disgust, "or you will all be out of a job." There was a collective gasp, then the corridor magically cleared. He turned to the security men. "Make sure that no-one except the medical staff gets access to this room and move anyone else on. Forcefully if need be."

"Yes Sir!" they said, stepping outside to guard the door.

Kaiba turned back into the room, ignoring the incoherently ranting Kiyotaka for the moment, crossing directly over to the pod where Jonouchi was currently residing. What he saw there had him gasping and bringing a hand to his mouth in horror. Jonouchi was clearly in a bad way. "Shit!" he exclaimed, turning and crossing back to the door, intending to yell for the medics, only to find them already there.

"What's the problem Mr. Kaiba," the head medic asked.

Kaiba gestured for them to follow. "That... imbecile," he said, glaring at Kiyotaka, "decided that it would be a good idea to kidnap someone off the street and put them into the virtual world as some kind of sick experiment."

"How long has he been in there?" the medic asked.

"Just over two weeks," Kaiba said, "without sustenance. Also, his hydration was removed within the last 24 hours. Do what you can for him now. I'm going to talk to him to let him know what is happening before I re-integrate his mind with his body."

"Yes sir," the medic said, then gestured to his assistants as he went to do his job."

Kaiba then addressed the security men who were holding Kiyotaka. "Take him to a holding cell. I shall deal with him later." He watched as the security men escorted Kiyotaka out of the room, then Kaiba crossed to the computer, quickly bringing the virtual world up on the display, noting that Jou was still in the same place with the two dragons. "Jonouchi," he spoke to attract the blond's attention.

"Kaiba?" Jou seemed surprised. "What's going on?"

"We've... found you." Kaiba said. It felt weird to say such a thing.

"Oh." Jou looked worried. "Is it... bad?" he asked hesitantly.

"It's certainly not good," Kaiba hedged, "but the medics are here now and they will do everything they can."

"Well, that's something I guess," Jou said with an apprehensive look.

"Try not to let it worry you too much," Red Eyes said. "I'm sure that everything will be fine."

Kaiba boggled as the dragon spoke, eyes widening further as Jou snuggled into the side of the monster.

"Excuse me, Sir?" the head medic drew Kaiba's attention away from the tableau on the screen.

"Yes, what is it?" Kaiba asked shortly.

"We've got him hooked up to a drip, but his vital signs are quite sluggish. I'm sure that he will respond much better once he is disconnected from the machine."

"I understand," Kaiba said. "Give me a few moments and I shall see to it." The medic bowed and hurried away. "Jou?"

"Yeah, I heard," Jou said.

"Before we extract you from the program, I want it on record that I really had no idea where you were. There is no way that I would ever have sanctioned something like this and..." he took a deep breath, "I'm sorry that this happened to you."

Jou gasped. "Kaiba, did you just apologise to me?" He chuckled. "Never thought I'd see the day but... thanks, man."

"I also just want to remind you," Kaiba continued, "that with the exception of Noa, no-one has ever had their mind separated from their body like this for so long. He added a sympathetic tone to his voice. "We have no idea how you may be affected, but I'm sure it won't be an easy ride."

"And Noa didn't have a body to return to," Jou observed, "so I guess it's just one more thing to add onto this pile of shit, but thanks for warning me."

"Are you ready to go back?" Kaiba asked, knowing that the sooner they got him back to his body the better.

"Just a moment," Jou said. He turned to the Red Eyes Black Dragon. "Thank you," he said, giving the dragon a hug. "I'm glad I got to meet you."

"You are welcome, Master," Red eyes said sincerely.

Jou stepped away from the black dragon and turned to the Blue Eyes White Dragon. He gave a deep bow. "Thank you too, Blue eyes."

The white Dragon moved towards Jou and gave him a careful nuzzle. "You are welcome," she said. "Now go and recover well."

"I'll do my best and thanks again." Jou said as he turned away from the dragons and tensed. "OK, Kaiba. I'm ready."

Kaiba didn't reply, but pressed the sequence that would rejoin Jonouchi's mind and body. He watched as Jou winked out, then looked at another screen that showed the status of the transfer, which was successful. After that, he turned his attention back to the screen where the dragons were sitting as if they were waiting for something.

"Who programmed you?" Kaiba demanded abruptly. "There shouldn't be any dragons or monsters of any kind in the virtual world as of yet, so who put you there?"

Red Eyes chuckled as Blue Eyes answered. "No-one programmed us, Master," she said patiently, "but I don't expect that you would believe us if we were to tell you the truth."

"Do you think you are the real dragons?" Kaiba scoffed, resolving to take the programs down to the base code to find out what he wanted to know at the earliest opportunity.

"It doesn't matter, Master," Blue Eyes said, "but thank you for finding Jonouchi. My mate would have been very sad if his master had died here, especially if no-one ever found out what had happened to him."

"Your mate?" Kaiba's eyebrows raised. "You mean that second rate duelist's..." Kaiba was obviously about to say something disparaging, but he was cut off.

"Please do not insult my master, Seto Kaiba," Red Eyes rumbled. "When he realised that you may be in danger he only wanted to make sure that you were safe, even to the detriment of his own self, so he does not deserve your insults this day."

"Really," Kaiba said with more than a touch of scepticism. He could hear the medics dealing with Jonouchi behind him, obviously having a difficult time of it. He was about to turn to see what was happening when his attention was caught by a disturbance in the virtual sky. "What the hell is happening now?" he grumbled as he began to press keys frantically, trying to find the source of the anomaly.

"Do not worry, Master," Blue eyes said. "We are going home as our job is done. It is up to you to look after Jonouchi now." With that, the dragons turned towards the expanding portal. As the aperture widened, Kaiba's eyes also widened as he could clearly see two Blue Eyes White Dragons anxiously guarding the still forms of a third Blue Eyes and a Red Eyes along with the Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl who were on either side of the aperture. The two dragons in the virtual world erupted into motes of light which sped through the portal and to the unconscious forms on the ground, then the aperture closed and they were gone.

Kaiba blinked at that. That certainly wasn't part of any of his program. He pressed a button, intending to call down to the software and programming department to demand a full analysis, but then he hesitated. Would that actually be such a good idea?

He finally pressed the button and waited for an answer. "Stop work on the VR program, but leave it running for now," Kaiba ordered. "No-one is to enter or touch any part of the code. In fact, you can all go home for the day." He waited for the surprised confirmation, then closed the line.

"Mr Kaiba," Isono stepped up behind his boss, "I have just been informed that the police have arrived."

"Good," Kaiba said. "Go and make sure that they get an outline of what happened and have them take Kiyotaka into custody. I'll be there as soon as I finish up here."

"Yes sir," Isono said, then he quickly left the room, finally leaving Kaiba free to get an update on Jonouchi's situation.

He crossed to where the medics were in the final stages of preparing Jonouchi for transport. "Someone give me an update," he barked.

The head medic moved out of the throng concealing Jonouchi. "He is stable, but we need to get him to the hospital now," he informed.

"Good. See that he is well taken care of," Kaiba said. He was about to turn away and go to deal with the débâcle surrounding Kiyotaka when his attention was called back.

"No, don't try to speak, Mr. Jonouchi," one of the medics was heard to say, "You'll dislodge your drip!" As Jonouchi gasped and struggled to rise, Kaiba crossed to where the blond was lying on the gurney.

Jou saw Kaiba approaching and struggled once again to sit up, both severely dizzy and dis-coordinated from the effects of his mind being separate from his body for so long and weak from all that time with no exercise or sustenance.

Kaiba gently pushed him back. "Don't try to rise, Jonouchi," he said. Jou raised a shaking hand and looked at Kaiba with what seemed to be a pleading gaze. Kaiba grasped Jou's hand, mentally cringing at how frail the other felt. "Whatever you need, it will be provided, no questions asked, so don't worry about that." As Jou's expression did not change, he sighed. "I would come with you if I could, but I have quite the mess to sort out here." Jou's expression turned stricken. "I don't blame you for it," Kaiba said, looking intently into Jou's dulled gaze, knowing that the other needed to be reassured. "I just need to make arrangements to make sure that the person that did this to you cannot get away with it." Jou's expression softened slightly and Kaiba knew what else he had to offer to make Jou relax a bit more. "I will call Yugi to let him know that we have found you and I will send a car for him so that he can meet you at the hospital. Everyone has been concerned about you so now you need to go and begin getting well."

Jonouchi gave a slight, shaky nod and finally released Kaiba's hand, enabling the CEO to stand back and let the medics wheel him away. As Kaiba watched him go, he had a sense that he had done something wrong, that he had missed some kind of opportunity, but there was no help for it now. The next thing he had to do was to make sure that Kiyotaka was prosecuted to the full extent of the law, to make sure that there were no half measures just because the victim was somehow perceived as being less deserving of justice.

But before that, he crossed to the phone. "Yugi," he said into the handset brusquely, "We've found Jonouchi."

xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

Jonouchi slumped back onto the gurney and let his eyes slide closed as the medical staff wheeled him away. He had almost passed out as soon as he had come to thanks to the sensory overload he was experiencing due to to his mind having been separated from his body for so long. But he had desperately held on to consciousness he had needed to see Kaiba, to see a familiar face. To see if he really cared.

He had been distressed when he'd realised that Kaiba was going to leave him to go to hospital alone. Not that he'd been able to communicate so far, both thanks to the stresses of the separation and from him being so weak due to being starved along with the fact that his throat was hellishly dry, but at least Kaiba had promised to send Yugi to him.

Being able to see the concern on Kaiba's face had been worth the screaming nerves as his hand was grasped. His last thought as he let himself slip into the welcome oblivion of unconsciousness was that if Kaiba hadn't cared, then he really would have left him to deal with this on his own.

And he really didn't want to be alone right now.

xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

Several hours later found Kaiba sat in his office, his head in his hands. He'd had to deal quite firmly with the police to ensure that justice was going to be done. He had actually had to call in the police chief and inform him that he was going to be keeping a very close eye on proceedings before he was satisfied that Jou wasn't going to be somehow fobbed off.

Kaiba had also been allowed to see Kiyotaka and he had been astounded as the man had begged him for help. Kiyotaka had insisted that the research was an invaluable study and couldn't be discounted as a source of information. Kaiba had given the man a look that had frozen his words upon his lips and informed him coldly that he had rejected the proposal for a reason, a reason that he was not obligated to explain and that going behind his back and doing it anyway was not excusable in any way whatsoever. On top of that, to target Jonouchi, someone who was... important to the world of duel monsters, the very thing that Kaiba Corporation specialised in, was completely unforgivable.

He also made it totally clear that in the event that the police failed to prosecute him to the full extent of the law, that he would assist Jonouchi to bring a civil suit to extract justice. Kiyotaka broke down then, knowing that there was no way out.

Kaiba left him there with no remorse.

Once Kaiba was done with the tedium of police reports and related red tape, he holed himself up in his office, determined to find and review the records of Jonouchi's stay in the virtual world. As Kaiba expected, Kiyotaka had kept copious records of everything that had happened. It had quickly become apparent that this was the source of the unusual activity he had detected in the virtual world and although Kiyotaka had put safeguards and booby traps in place to ensure that his records would not be found, now that Kaiba knew what he was looking for, who had placed them and, most importantly, now that no-one was working against him, they were fairly easy to remove, at least for someone of Kaiba's calibre.

He watched at an accelerated pace as Jonouchi attempted to find out where he was and to find a way out. He slowed the video and watched in real time as Jonouchi yelled at the sky, cursing the Kaiba name. Kaiba would never admit it, but he had a lump in his throat as he witnessed the raw pain in Jonouchi's voice. He really couldn't blame Jou for thinking that he was responsible for his plight. Indeed, Kaiba actually did feel at least partially responsible. He'd had a bad feeling about Kiyotaka even before he'd put in that strange request, but the man had been a brilliant programmer and technician and the need of his skills had outweighed any bad feeling that Kaiba had experienced, something he now regretted. He should have had the situation looked into as such a request was too much for even the usual academic curiosity, but hindsight was a wonderful thing and Kaiba knew that there was no help for it but to make sure that he made up for his... error.

He turned his attention back to the screen. Jonouchi was now in the park, but he was talking to... thin air. Kaiba felt a frisson of fear run down his spine. If Jonouchi had become so mentally unstable that he had been hallucinating, that was a bad thing. But then he gasped. Jou had made to run, but he'd been grabbed by an invisible force and carried back. "What the..." Kaiba said out loud, disbelieving his own eyes.

He continued to watch as Jou carried on that one sided conversation, then Jou stopped, looked over at something else, then jumped onto... something... and rose into the air. Kaiba paused the video at that point, looking over at a screen that was displaying the related program diagnostics, but to his surprise only Jonouchi was shown. Of the dragons that clearly should be there at this point, there was no sign at all.

Kaiba struggled to make sense of what was in front of his eyes – or rather what wasn't, but then he made a snap decision. He removed these records from the system, arranging things to look as though Kiyotaka had placed a trap that would destroy the evidence.

The reason for doing this was because it hit a touch too close to home and his dismissal of anything to do with magic. Also because it made Jou and, to a lesser extent himself, look as though they had lost their marbles. He knew that Jou was stronger than that and during the short time he'd spoken to Jou before removing him from the virtual world he had seemed quite lucid and reasonable, but this video evidence could be used as a tool to stop Jou from giving his side of the story, making it look as though he was not of sound mind, something Kaiba could not let happen. He did not discount the fact that Jou would inevitably have been affected by his experience, but Jou would get all the help that he needed. He would personally see to it.

He shut everything down once he was done and had thoroughly covered his tracks and looked at the clock. It was very late and visiting hours would have been long over, but Kaiba knew that no-one would dare to stop him if he decided to go and see Jonouchi. But did he want to? Did he want to get involved beyond what had happened today? It would be easy to keep Jonouchi at arms length as he had done before, simply paying any damages that would be awarded in the inevitable court case. But then he thought of the way Jou had struggled to speak earlier, the look that Jou had given to him as he lay on the stretcher, the feeling as he'd watched him being wheeled away...

He stood then, stalking out of the office, knowing that by the time he got to the lobby that there would be a car waiting for him. He wasn't disappointed as he stepped out of the tall building to find the chauffeur already holding the car door open for him. What he was less pleased to see was the media camped outside. They were kept well back as Security had done their job and set up a cordon, but that didn't stop a brave few from shouting questions. He completely ignored them and got into the car, wondering how it was that the media could manage to find out about things so quickly. But he put that out of his mind for now. He had other things to worry about.

"To the hospital," Kaiba instructed as the driver sat back in the car.

"Yes sir," the reply came, then the car pulled smoothly away from the building. Kaiba numbly watched the dark scenery pass by, refusing to think too much about what he was doing lest he balk and order the driver to simply take him home.

Soon, much sooner it seemed than Kaiba was expecting, the car pulled up outside the private hospital that Jonouchi had been taken to. The chauffeur opened the door and Kaiba stepped smartly out, noting with some pleasure that the press were not at this hospital – at least not yet. Kaiba had no doubt that the fact that his car had arrived here would soon be reported and the hyenas would descend upon the site. He pulled out his cellphone, instructed Isono to make sure that security arrangements were up to snuff, then he stepped inside the building. As expected, he was given no trouble at all despite the late hour and he was quickly shown to the room where Jonouchi was being monitored and treated.

He stood outside for a moment, then gathered his courage and stepped inside. He blanched as he took in all the machines that were monitoring Jonouchi's vital signs and the tubes that were feeding much needed fluids and nutrients into Jonouchi's ravaged frame. But he could not help but be relieved that there was no-one else here.

He allowed himself to take a proper look at Jonouchi then, mentally stripping away the tubes and machines, not liking what he saw. Jou was pale and – as he had noted before – far too thin. His skin was taut and stretched, his eyes were sunken and he looked very weary. Kaiba sat down in the chair next to Jonouchi's bed and after a few moments he began to talk.

"Jonouchi," he said hesitantly, then he sighed. "I never wanted this to happen to you." He paused and looked at Jonouchi's face to see if there was any reaction, but there wasn't so he continued. "I know you thought that I hated you enough to do this, something I really cannot blame you for, but that makes it all the more surprising that you would risk everything for me in the way that you did. After all, you had no way of knowing if I would just boot you from the virtual world."

"I will admit that it did cross my mind when I thought that you had somehow hacked in, but I'm glad that I didn't because that may well have signed your death warrant."

He took a deep breath. "No matter what you might have done, I couldn't hate you enough harm you in that way. In fact..." his tone turned more gentle, "I don't hate you. When Yugi came to tell me that you were missing I was very... worried about you, even though I would not show it to Yugi's face and I only became more worried when I couldn't find you."

Kaiba paused for a moment. "I... I think I would like to try to be... friends," he ground out with difficulty, even though he knew that no-one was listening. "I know that there is no chance of there being anything more than that, but... I do like you. I think I always have and I apologise for making you think that I hated you enough to cause you this kind of grief."

Kaiba stood then, realising that he was spilling a lot more than he felt comfortable doing, even if the only audience he had was asleep. "I'll see you in a couple of days, Jonouchi," Kaiba said, leaning over to brush an errant lock of hair from Jonouchi's face. "Please, get well soon." With that said, Seto Kaiba left the room.

As the door closed, Jonouchi's eyes flickered open. He'd been on the edge of consciousness for a while despite the sedation he was under and he had come more awake shortly after Kaiba had started talking. He was certain that Kaiba had only spoken in such a manner because he had thought that Jou was asleep and his words had been quite the revelation. Although Jou felt it was good to know that his feelings were reciprocated, he also knew that he was in no state to do anything about it at the moment, if he even decided to.

Jou knew that the best thing to do at the moment would be to concentrate on getting better and to get the inevitable legal stuff out of the way. Then - and only then - would he consider broaching the subject to his long time crush. He'd never thought that he'd had a chance before and to know that Kaiba did feel the same way would sustain him for now.

Maybe, just maybe, there would be a chance.

xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

Time passed, several months in fact.

In the aftermath of Jou's discovery, Kaiba had thought long and hard, but had eventually decided to shelve the Virtual World project for good. It seemed to be a doomed venture as some loony always tried to hijack it for their own ends so he announced the cancellation of the entire project, both for his own peace of mind and ultimately to protect the reputation of Kaiba Corporation. Yes, the company did lose money over it, but even the most ruthless of businessmen and geekiest of computer programmers agreed that the risks involved with the technology were far too great to continue. Instead, Kaiba Corporation concentrated on developing better computer games and duel disks, soon recouping those losses.

Soon enough, the Virtual World was nothing more than a distant memory and, as Kaiba Corporation owned all the patents needed to undertake such an endeavour, it would likely stay that way.

In that time Jou had recovered well although it had been slow progress, especially at first. He had regained his strength and fitness within the expected time frame and he had undergone extensive counselling to help him cope with the aftermath of his kidnapping and isolation, but despite that he had found himself prone to fits of severe dizziness if he became too emotional, angry or overstressed, something that was put down to the effect of his mind being separated from his body for such a prolonged period of time. It meant that Jou had to work fairly hard on controlling his temper, something he'd found difficult at first, even with mood-suppressing medication to assist him.

However, when the court case had come around, Jou had absolutely insisted that would attend even though he'd had to be taken in a wheelchair. He just wanted to be able to look the bastard that had done this to him in the eye, to make him realise that he couldn't just treat people like they were nothing more than test subjects to be experimented on and he was successful to some small extent.

People like Kiyotaka tended to regard those that they considered below or less intelligent than them with utter contempt, but as the man saw Jou being pushed into the court room by Seto Kaiba himself, flanked by Mokuba Kaiba and the King of Games, Yugi Mutou, he had paled considerably, finally knowing that he had made a huge mistake - at least with regard to the subject he had selected. Sadly, the man was utterly convinced that he was in the right and if he had only selected someone else then he would have been able to get out of it.

Soon the hearing was over. Kaiba had been called to give evidence as had Yugi and Mokuba, along with several of Kaiba's technicians. Jou had given a statement via a pre-recorded video under strict medical supervision due to the state of his health, the condition that he found himself in rendering him unable to take the rigours of being cross-examined.

Eventually, Iwao Kiyotaka was given a substantial jail term and Jou was awarded considerable damages. Once the trial was done with, Jonouchi's recovery had seemed to pick up pace which was likely due to the stress of the case not hanging over him any more.

However, for all that he was now getting better in leaps and bounds, he knew that there was one more thing that he needed to deal with, something that was holding back his full recovery. That was the small matter of the unresolved feelings between himself and Seto Kaiba.

This had been on his mind ever since the first night at the hospital, the night that Kaiba had to all intents and purposes confessed, although Jou had no doubt in his mind that Kaiba would never have done such a thing had he known that Jou was awake and listening. Jou had had plenty of time to think it over during the long months of his recovery and he liked to imagine that they were at least friends of a sort now, even though Kaiba tended stay very businesslike around him and Kaiba had been completely avoiding him for the last couple of weeks.

Jou supposed that the reason for that last was because Kaiba had been stressed over something to do with Kaiba Corporation and he had snapped at Jou when he'd asked him to chill out a bit. Instead of retaliating in the usual way, Jou had been afflicted by a massive dizzy spell, the worst one he'd had in quite a while and it had obviously spooked Kaiba pretty badly. Once Jou had recovered from that, Kaiba had made himself scarce and Jou had not seen him since.

Jou had thought long and hard over why he'd had such a bad turn when he had all but got over them and he had come to the conclusion that it was because he still had to get some kind of resolution, not just over Kaiba's 'confession', but over the events in the virtual world, something that Kaiba had remained quite close-lipped about. Jou guessed that because Kaiba had cancelled the virtual world project he thought that should be an end to it, but it wasn't that easy for Jou. He still had plenty of questions that he needed answers to and he knew that he would not be able to put his ordeal completely behind him until he had them.

These were the reasons that he'd found himself outside of Kaiba Corporation one evening. He had slipped away from his friends in order to go there, something he felt only marginally guilty about as they would either have tried to talk him out of going at all or they would have insisted on accompanying him and this was something that he needed to do on his own.

He walked into reception, the secretary instantly recognising him and sending him on through. Jou was a little surprised by that, but at the same time it did give him a little bit of hope. After all, Kaiba could easily have left instruction that he wasn't to be admitted.

He stepped into the lift and pressed the button to go up, beginning to feel somewhat nervous and becoming slightly dizzy. He hurriedly started to do some of the mental exercises he had been shown in order to help himself to calm down and regain his equilibrium. As he got himself back on kilter, he wondered if it had been a good idea to come here without taking some of his, now mostly unneeded, medication. After all, it was mainly issues to do with Kaiba that set him off these days, but he also knew that he needed to face Kaiba with a clear mind and the medication made him feel kind of fuzzy. He could not afford to be fuzzy with something this important!

Soon enough, the lift reached the top floor and Jonouchi found himself outside of Seto Kaiba's office. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and knocked.

"Come in," Kaiba's voice sailed through the wood. Jou opened the door and stepped inside.

"Hey Kaiba," Jou said cheerily, trying to keep his emotions under control.

"Jonouchi?" Kaiba said with a hint of surprise. "What brings you here?" He did his best to keep his tone on the light side of neutral as he recalled what had happened the last time he'd seen the other.

"Well, it feels like you've been avoiding me," Jou said light-heartedly, trying not to cause offence. "I thought that we were... doing better now." Jou wasn't sure that the word 'friends' would be the appropriate term to use, especially considering what he had come here to find out.

"I have been fairly busy lately," Kaiba said smoothly, "but I apologise if I've been ignoring you. That was not my intention."

"Oh, that's OK then," Jou replied, walking over and perching on the edge of Kaiba's desk. "I was worried that I'd... scared you off or something."

Kaiba gave Jou a sharp look at the implication that anyone could scare him, but held his tongue. "Was there anything else you wanted?" he asked pointedly.

"Ah, yeah..." Jou admitted. He took a deep breath and went through several mental exercises as he strove to keep his emotions tamped down. "I need to talk to you about the first time you visited me in the hospital."

Kaiba affected a nonchalant air, even as his heart gave a lurch. "I returned your MP3 player then stood by the door whilst everyone else fussed over you," he said. "I would apologise for not joining in, but you know that's not my style," he finished, giving a wry smile.

Jou shook his head in exasperated amusement. It seemed that Kaiba was determined to do this the hard way. "No, Kaiba, that was the second time. I'm talking about the first night I was in the hospital. It was very late, but you came to see me."

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Kaiba said, turning his attention back to his computer. This was not a conversation that he wanted to have right now. Or perhaps ever.

"I know you thought I was asleep," Jou continued, "and I was, at least to start with. I think I finally registered what you were saying when you said that you were glad you didn't just boot me from the virtual world." Jou paused here to look at Kaiba who sat there with a pinched expression but he continued typing as if Jou hadn't said anything. "Then you said that you liked me." Kaiba didn't react. "As in more than friends liked me." Jou paused uncertainly as Kaiba froze. "Did you mean that?"

Kaiba stifled a gasp. He couldn't let Jonouchi hold that over him. "I still have no idea what you are talking about." He would not look Jonouchi in the eye. "You must have dreamed it."

"You know I would almost have accepted that as an explanation if you hadn't touched me," Jou said, causing Kaiba to look up sharply at him. "I was pretty hypersensitive to touch right then seeing as I'd been stuck in the virtual world with my body's nervous system basically shut down and with no real exposure to that sense for weeks. Sorry Kaiba, there was no way I could have imagined it."

"So you've come here to rub it in my face?" Kaiba said quietly, standing threateningly as he turned a glare onto Jonouchi, "or do you want something from me?"

"Wh... what?" Jou was taken aback by Kaiba's sudden change of demeanour and his emotions began to waver. "No, that's not it at all."

"So what is it then, Mutt?" Kaiba demanded, looming over Jonouchi, "because I won't let anyone..."

Jou tried to hold on to his equilibrium, but in the face of Kaiba's outrage and the use of that hated name, there was no way he could. And he'd been doing so well! He gasped as the room tilted and began to spin, slipping from the edge of the desk and landing heavily on the floor in a dead faint.

Kaiba gasped as Jou fell to the floor, instantly realising that he had gone too far and he cursed himself for giving in to his paranoia. "Jonouchi!" he exclaimed, "are you alright?" He slipped to the floor and pulled Jou's head into his lap.

"Give me a moment," Jou said as he re-oriented himself, taking the worried note in Kaiba's voice as an encouraging sign.

"I'm sorry," Kaiba said as he continued to support Jou. "I... should have let you finish before going off at you."

"Don't worry about it," Jou sighed, finally sitting up with Kaiba's help as his head cleared. "I just wanted to tell you that I returned the sentiment, that's all," he sighed again, "but I guess I blew it, huh?"

"No," Kaiba rebuffed, "if anyone blew it, I did. But... what about these dizzy spells? It seems that every time we are in the same room I manage to cause you to take a turn."

"Well, I reckon most of that is down to this... thing... hanging over us," Jou said. "I don't think it will be so bad now it's out in the open." He flicked a look at Kaiba, but refused to meet his eyes. "So... what do you say? Could we give it a go?"

Kaiba was silent for a while, regarding Jou in a calculating way as he considered the options and possible consequences. Unfortunately, Jou took this as rejection.

"OK," Jou said sadly, making to struggle to his feet. "Stupid question, huh? I won't bother you over it again." He had only just managed to get upright when he was shocked as Kaiba pulled him back.

"Don't jump to conclusions," Kaiba said up close to Jou's ear, causing a shiver to run down his spine. "I... suppose we could try," he said hesitantly.

"Thank you Kaiba," Jou said, snuggling back against the other, feeling more at ease than he had done in months.

"I just want to be sure that you are OK," Kaiba said.

Jou turned his head to smile up at his new boyfriend. "It's nice that you're worried," he said, "and we will have to take it slowly for obvious reasons, but I think that everything is going to be just fine."

xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

A couple of hours later, Jou and Kaiba were sat together on the couch. They had spent the last couple of hours simply talking over several subjects, from what had happened in the Virtual World, to arguing over Duel Monsters strategies.

Kaiba had come clean to Jou about everything to do with his stay in the virtual world, right from the proposal he'd rejected from Kiyotaka to the fact that the dragons that they had both seen and talked to had not appeared on the recording of the video feed. Kaiba also admitted that he had destroyed the evidence and made it look as though one of Kiyotaka's booby-traps had taken it out.

Jou was a little disappointed that there had been no record of him meeting the dragons as he would have liked to have seen it for himself. He did understand why the remaining video had to be destroyed, but at least no-one could take away his memories of them - the one bright spot in that terrible time. However, he was pleased that Kaiba seemed to be completely open and honest with him over everything that had happened. Even though he had heard most of it before, the extra parts that had Kaiba added to the picture gave a sense of closure to the whole thing. Given that Kaiba liked to keep his cards close to his chest, this gave Jou a warm feeling inside and he came to the conclusion that as much as this was helping him, it was also a way for Kaiba to put his own demons to rest.

Then Jou had reciprocated, telling Kaiba everything about his lonely stay in the virtual world, from how the unnatural silence had affected him to that weird feeling that had overtaken him when Kiyotaka was watching him. Kaiba had listened with growing horror as the full reality of the situation Jou had found himself in was laid out before him and, not for the first time, he was glad that he had finally killed the project off for good.

They had ended up hugging each other as they had finally laid the matter to rest and it had not escaped their notice that Jou had not had a single dizzy spell during all the time that they had been talking, something that they were both thankful for.

Kaiba sighed and pulled away as his phone rang, cursing as whoever it was interrupted the moment. He pulled it out and pressed the button to connect the call as Yugi's number appeared on the screen. "What is it, Mutou?" he asked shortly.

"I'm sorry to bother you, Kaiba," Yugi began apologetically, "but no one seems to know where Jonouchi is and his phone is switched off."

"Jou, is your phone off?" Kaiba asked quickly.

Jou looked a touch sheepish. "Yeah, I turned it off so I wouldn't be disturbed when I came here. I completely forgot about it."

"Jou is with you?" Yugi asked with some surprise. "Considering how Jou is when you are around, are you sure that's safe?"

Kaiba didn't get the chance to answer as Jou plucked the phone from his hand. "Yug', don't worry about me," he said with a warm look at Kaiba. "I can quite happily say that everything is just fine." He pressed the button to disconnect the call, then melted into Kaiba's arms.

And everything was perfectly fine in Jou's world. If he had his way, that was how it would stay.

Mind you, despite all their earlier discussion, he still had to inform Kaiba that their dragons liked to watch them from time to time. He honestly had no idea how Kaiba would take that.

But then, he thought as Kaiba's lips met his for the first time, maybe it could wait.

The End.

xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

**A/N**- The last part feels a bit odd and as if it needs some fleshing out here and there, but if I were to write every event out in dialogue I'm pretty sure it would come across as rather boring. I may come back to look at it again at some point in the future, but it will stand as it is for now.

That aside, I'm fairly pleased with how it came out in the end and I'm happy to finally start posting again!

I'm not sure what I'm going to post next. Maybe that Azureshipping story I wrote for NaNoWriMo last year? It is complete apart from the obvious need for editing, so I shall probably go with that.

Thanks for reading!


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